good morning. it's wednesday. coming up on "early today." a gas explosion sparks a huge blaze in a popular kansas city shopping district. now the search for possible fate fatalities begins. shocking allegations on cyberattacks coming not only from china but the chinese military. how the obama administration plans to strike back. plus, joe biden's assault weapon alternative. president obama golfing with tiger woods. and a sea otter that's got game. "early today" starts now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, february 20th, 2013. good morning, i'm mara

schiavocampo. cadaver dogs are being sent into kansas city to search for possible victims this morning after a blast leveled a section of the city's shopping district. local officials say a gas explosion around 6:00 p.m. caused a massive fire at the popular jj's restaurant. witnesses say the blast came out of nowhere. as of yet no confirmed fatalities. officials express concern to find those who are missing. >> a guy came in, and said we're supposed to evacuate. next thing i knew, boom, everything just exploded. the scariest thing i've ever witnessed, ever been through in my life. >> it was just next to it. people evacuating the apartment building over here. people with their animals, getting them out of the apartment building so it was just kind of crazy. >> those in the area smelling gas the moments leading up to the explosion but city officials say they have to investigate further before any cause can be determined. in south africa today another emotional day in court

for track star oscar pistorius. it's day two of the bail hearing for the former olympian who is accused of murdering his murder girlfriend. prosecutors say it was premeditated while defense lawyers say it was a terrible understandinging. nbc chapman bell joins us live from south africa. chapman, good morning. what's happening in court today? >> reporter: good morning, mara. well, yesterday was a not so great day for oscar pistorius in court. today doesn't seem to be going well for him either. yesterday, the prosecution claimed that it was a premeditated murder. and the magistrate at this point is going along with this claim. now, today on the stand, they've had the lead investigator giving evidence, saying why he agrees with the prosecution that this is in fact a premeditated crime. they're really focusing on how the shots were fired through the bathroom door. striking reeva steenkamp and killing her. and this is essential, really, to their claim that it was

premeditated. that he walked with a purpose to fire the bullets through the door killing miss steenkamp. also, in addition to all of this, they as decided they want to add additional charges. those of unlicensed firearm ammunition found in the home. so this is not striking up so great. they are taking a break, however, because his lawyers want to show a plan of the house so they can argue how it was not premeditated murder. mara. >> chapman bell live in pretoria, thanks so much for that. well, the add obama administration is set to unveil a new strategy to strike back against cyberespionage. nbc's danielle leigh is live in washington with the details. danielle, good morning. what are we expecting to hear from the white house this morning? >> reporter: mara, good morning, the white house is pretty tight lipped about the specifics but what we do know they're releasing a more detailed report

today to detail the aggressive step this can take to combat his cyberhacking. this is something we've been hearing from the white house and defense secretary leon panetta that they're concerned about. and reports that the chinese military is behind hacking efforts. targeting the infrastructure, a concerning revelation. >> and turning now to the budget battle there in washington, we're just days away from those looming across the board spending cuts, what's the latest on the administration to avoid the sequestration? >> reporter: well, experts believe that we will actually hit the sequester. that the cuts will take effect for a short period of time. the pentagon is going with congress to say that they are likely go to furlough more than 700,000 employees if these cuts were to take effect. it's basically going to be a 20% pay cut for those employees. and that's going to trickle down into the economy. now that announcement comes one

day after president obama called on congress to act. vice president joe biden is offering up advice on the best way to defend yourself in you with a firearm. in a facebook meeting tuesday, biden talked about the white house efforts to restrict the size of ammunition clips and other proposals. during that chashgts biden said the best thing foreprotection is a shotgun. >> put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house. i promise you, whoever is coming in is not going to -- you don't need an ar-15. it's harder to aim. it's harder to use. and in fact, you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself. buy a shotgun. >> buy a shotgun. all right. biden said he keeps two shotguns locked up at home and he's told his wife jill to use them if necessary. he's been considered for a big new job but marine general allen said he's retiring.

general allen just completed 19 months as top commander in afghanistan, but instead of taking the new job in europe, he'll retire to focus on helping his wife with health issues. allen was recently caught up in the sex scandal that forced cia director david petraeus to resign. turning to the weather, bill karins is here. >> yeah, good morning, it's exiting california and going to head straight to the u.s. this is a big storm that's going to cause problems for traveling, especially later on tonight and all day thursday. let me show you where the storm is located. and the temperatures tell the story. we are watching the storm with a chilly 41 in san francisco and l.a. rain and snow in the mountains. the cold air is in place around kansas city, up through areas of nebraska, iowa and missouri. that's where the storm itself is locked in. you can spinning through southern california. that is going to exit out through the plains. we already have a big area of rain developing in north texas

and southern oklahoma. eventually, as this storm kicks out we will be watching a lot of snow developing. we already have winter storm warnings much of kansas and nebraska. these are all winter storm watches that will go over as either warnings or advisories in the days ahead. our computers, one of the more reliable computers is pinpointed snow from oklahoma northward to nebraska. 6 to 12 inches in a large area, including, kansas city, wichita and topeka area. that's the travel for tonight and tomorrow. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. today, we are watching that storm developing. as far as areas like kansas city go, looks like we've slowed the timing down just slightly on the storm. the worst of it will be later on tonight and then all day thursday. >> and this storm also goes into areas like st. louis, chicago, all of iowa. but it won't be as significant there. still a couple inches of snow. maybe a little bit of ice.

but it looks like kansas, nebraska the bull's-eye. coming up after the brace. an execution blocked at the 11th hour. one of the biggest diamond heists in recent memories. and italy's. plus a professor in hot water. you're watching "early today."

today." here's some other stories making news this morning. a federal appeals court stepped in at the very last minute to halt the execution of a georgia man citing his mental disability. warren lee hill had been set to die tuesday night after being convicted in the 1990 killing of a fellow inmate. officials in brussels are looking for eight robbers who pulled off a $50 million diamond heist at the airport. they apparently hid in a construction site outside and then cut through a fence. cars equipped with police lights got them to a plane carrying jewels where they grabbed the diamonds from the cargo hold and

took off. dramatic video from italy where mt. etna has had the biggest explosion of the year. sending lava and gas shooting into the air. houston, we have a problem. that's what astronauts aboard the international space station were saying except could hear them. nasa lost control with them for about three hours tuesday and they blame a glitch in the software update. and a professor in science bared all on quantum mechanics. he told the class in order to learn the subject you must, quote, strip to your raw and start over again. and also images of osama bin laden and being stabbed by a sword. officials say they're reviewing the class. in health news, are you one of the lucky few who never catch a cold? according to a study, you should look at your dna. researchers found dna skosed to cold found tips with

chromosomes. earlier research has linked shorter dna caps to smoking and stress. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil cream. turning now to business. stocks closed at five-year highs tuesday, but will caution from the feds snap wall street's streak. there's high interest in today's release of january's leading minutes from the federal reserve after december's minutes revealed several members hawkish tones on stimulus, rocking markets and driving interest rates higher. elsewhere, from dish network. before the bell, investors will find out if doubling down on the hopper technology has paid off. high-end home builder toll brother will also weigh in before markets open. also keep an eye on boeing, the largest group of its engineers approved a new four-year contract late last night but a smaller group rejected the offer authorizing the union to a strike at anytime. earnings are in from lower

attention-getter. herbal life topped estimates in 2014's forecast. the fbi is investigating whether insider trading took place the day before heinz ketchup blockbuster deal acquired by warren buffett. a federal judge to pay $1 billion in its role in the 2010 gulf oil disaster. meanwhile, the clock is sticking for bp to reach a last minute settlement before returning to court to pay billions of dollars in civil claims. check your coverage before breakfast. kellogg's is recalling 11, 37 and 22-ounce boxes of special red berries because they may contain pieces of glass. google reached a milestone. $800 a share for the first time. and a milestone for stanford university the first school to collect $1 billion in a single year. and watch out north face. the u.s. postal department is entering the smart clothing market. under the brand name rain, heat

and snow, they plan to launch a new product line of apparel and accesso accessories. coming up, tiger woods sizes up president obama's golf came. plus a discount at a chicago pizzeria that raises eye bra. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we start in tennessee where

several drivers had a brush with death following a collision on interstate 40. police dash cam footage shows one vehicle sparked a chain of crashes after driving over a ladder left on the road. fortunately, the multicar pileup caused only one minor injury. in virginia, joyriding in a stolen pickup truck came to a disastrous end for one group of teens. police went in pursuit of the suspects when they lost control and crashed into a house. there were no injuries and police may four arrests. in ohio, a massive fire torched one of the largest greenhouse operations in the midwest. flames and smoky rupted from the bliz. frigid conditions have hampered firefighters in their efforts to put out that fire which is still burning this morning. and finally, a virginia pizza shop has a unique deal for pistol packing customers. >> i'm offering a 15% discount for hin who carries openly or

has a concealed weapons permit. >> it's raised some eyebrows but the shop owner believes his program is in align with most in the firearms debate. turning to sport, the top five confrontations in college basketball. unranked missouri upset florida as the tigers set the lead in the closing minutes and held on for 60-53 over the gators. the hoosiers took over first place in the big ten conference with a 72-68 winner over the spartans. and number two miami got a layup from reggie johnson with 5.7 seconds to go and then stole a pass and just edged virginia 54-50. well tiger woods has given his opinion of president obama as a golfer following the round they played in florida. tiger praised the president's golf game. >> we played under some tough conditions. and he hit the ball well. got amazing touch. after these four years if he spends more time playing the

game of golf, i'm sure he can get to where he's a pretty good stick. >> really, what are you going to say about the president . >> and the 2014 road soccer goal will decide if the shot will count as a score. the president of fifa, the governing body of world soccer said tests in japan were successful. just ahead, "downton abbey" wraps its season in a big way. plus, move over lebron, we'll show you a talented sea otter that can do a whole lot more than just catch you fish. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. we are watching that storm in the west and then it's heading to the middle of the country today, already well ahead of the storm. just a surge of moisture in north texas. this is the dallas area with light rain, heavier downpours by wichita falls. it's cold in canada. it's coming down with snow and wintry mix. travel trouble beginning early today. but the peak of it, the intensity of the snow will be later on today and tomorrow. you won't want to be traveling. today, around kansas city, everyone's getting prepared for this event. time for entertainment. now that leonardo dicaprio, quote, is taking a break from acting he's looking for other ways to occupy his time. is seems that wildlife activist is on his list. dicaprio is working with the world wildlife fund to take the lead on elephant conservation.

record exec clive davis has released a tell-all memoir which includes the revelation that he's bisexual. and he also reveals that kelly clarkson would burst into tears. clarkson says the only time she ever cried in his office was when davis called her a lousy writer who should, quote, just shut up and sing. british drama "downton abbey" raked in 8.2 million viewers. thanks to 80 kwounton" it's quadrupled it's prime time argue. the runners-up will be taking ohm swag bags totaled $45,000. that includes trips to australia, hawaii, condoms and tequila. and portion-control dinner ware. >> and what is injectable fillers? >> you don't know what injectable fillers are?

to minimize lines and wrinkles. turning now to a story from portland, oregon, where a sea otter is making a splash by showing off his basketball skills. eddie, the sea otter, definitely knows how to take it to the rack. the aging otter learned this trick after aging caused him that. the exercises worked and he's been hooping it up ever since. can we keep him up a little longer? >> he's pretty cute. >> he's the cutest thing ever. he seems to be having a good time. you live in an enclosure like that -- >> i want a basketball like that in my office. >> you want a basketball like that in your office? you know they cost about $10. that can be arranged. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. we don't expect any trouble today. there could be some snow flurries in the northwest suburbs. 32 in westminster and parkton. it feels colder because the wind is gusting over 20 miles per hour. breezy and chilly and a few clouds. >> thank you. 33 degrees at the airport.

police are dealing with serval's shootings in the last 12 hours. >> the man convicted of killing phylicia barnes says he wants a new trial. >> if 15 -year-old pleads guilty for shooting a gun inside perryville high school. >> i came in and he told us to evacuate. the next thing i know, everything just exploded. >> what officials think because this massive blast. >>

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. 5:00 a.m.